After six months' hard toil in war-torn Afghanistan, Tauranga's Major Roger Earp was looking forward to a well-earned rest and some warm Bay weather but a blizzard nearly spoiled his homecoming plans.
Two weeks ago Maj Earp's unit was caught in a bone-numbing blizzard in the Afghani province of Bamyan.
As patrol commander for one of four units within the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan, Maj Earp was trying to lead his troops back to the main PRT base after a stint at a satellite base in the district of Panjaw. They were due to fly back to New Zealand within days.
However, Maj Earp's troops got caught up in the blizzard and when an axle on one of the vehicles snapped he made the decision to turn back.
"We were able to drive so far but then the snow got too deep for us," the 35-year-old father-of-three said.
Vehicles were getting caught in snow drifts 2-3m deep.
The thermometer wavered somewhere between -30C and -40C.
"A few of the guys were losing feeling in their fingers. Morale was pretty low because we thought on a number of occasions that someone was coming to get us and they didn't."
Meanwhile, wife Sam was home in Bethlehem praying her husband would get back to New Zealand as planned.So it was a happy family reunion with Sam and children Toby, 12, and Jake, 11, Megan, 9 at Tauranga Airport on Saturday.
Maj Earp was well and truly ready for a good dose of Western Bay sunshine after a harsh Afghani winter.
"Yeah, it's absolutely fantastic. It's just good to see people and live in a normal country without snow on the ground."
Maj Earp and his troops were stuck at the Panjaw base for four mercilessly cold days and nights. And the main generator broke down early in the piece, so they switched to a smaller one - and "that stuffed itself too".
"Whether we were inside or outside it would be really cold."
In the end, the unit was pulled out by helicopters.
"It was quite a good ending. To get two US aircraft in like that. It was the first time during the tour we had actually managed to get additional aircraft in."
But digging out a landing pad the size of a rugby field for the choppers was no small feat.
Maj Earp described his tour as tough and rewarding, but also hugely frustrating at times.
Afghani police were gradually being trained on how to establish and maintain law and order. But that was difficult in a country riddled with corruption.
"It's a long way to go, as they (Afghani police) are from a country that's been at war for 25 years. For a long period there was no law."
Judges were few and far between and criminals often went unpunished.
"If you turn up to court with lots of money and knew the right people you can normally get released."
The Kiwi PRT is one of about a dozen in Afghanistan.
It focused on criminal issues - trying to reduce robberies, murder and other offences - while working on establishing an infrastructure for Afghani governance.
The PRT served a dual role - providing its own security while doing as much reconstruction as possible.
"Most of the American PRTs had infantry battalions backing them up. Because we didn't, we were pretty heavily armed."
But for now, Major "Dad" is happy sorting out his own troops.
"I want to spend some time with my kids and wife."
Mrs Earp confessed it was tough-going running a three-child household on her own - not to mention missing her husband.
"You actually don't have any choice. You can sit around and get depressed and miserable or you can get on with it.
"But it's really nice to have him home."
And she was looking forward to spending Valentine's Day with her husband - a closet romantic.
"I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve," Mrs Earp said.
Major `Dad' puts frozen mission behind him
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